I ran across this website that gives washer machine reviews.

http://www.washingmachinereview.com/brands/SpeedQueen-Washer-Reviews.html

You can also look at automaticwasher.org and reviewed.com.

Mine (top load) seems loud, but otherwise I really like it.

Loud, service issues in certain areas, few bells and whistles, rabid owners who don't accept criticism very well such that it is actually hard to tell whether they really work that well…

Residential service is the biggest issue.

Best to see who would service your machine at your house before buying.

Make sure there is a service provider and that they are not horrible.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Good suggestion about servicing. That's why I stayed away from LG for my kitchen. although i heard from one service guy that there aren't that many repair people for LG because there are less calls for repairs.

I want a Speed Queen set so bad because I am tired of the crappy ones that I've had in the past, including Maytag...which was a real disappointment, considering how good their reputation has been forever. I too am worried about the service if needed on the SQ. I know my Houston dealers will deliver, but not hook up anything like Lowes or Home Depot will, and they are not willing to take away the old set, which isn't that big of a deal. They will just have to sit in my garage until we have our bi-monthy bulk trash haul away. I can only imagine the mess it will be if I need service....and how disappointed I will be if I do need service.

I don't have good luck with appliances AT ALL.

"Otherwise, all the cold water in the supply line between your water
heater and the washroom will go in first, and this thing doesn't use a
lot of water. So it is hard to get a true hot-water wash."

That applies to ALL frontloaders (and HE toploaders), not just Speed Queen.

When I was considering SQ, the high price was a drawback though you hope they'd last 2-3x as long as a cheaper one.

Top Load or Front Load? You didn't say.

I have a SQ top loader, several years old. Mechanical. No problems with service because I have had zero issues with it. Hometown dealer is located about a mile from my house. They delivered & installed it. And the dealer also services so I am not worried about that should I ever need service. For the most part, I do my own repairs anyway.

Upside is that I have never had an unbalanced load in the SQ. The Whirlpool before it routinely went off balance. With a laundry in the basement, I'm really lucky that I never broke a leg or my neck flying down the stairs to stop and re-balance the load in the old WP. So, in my case, you could say that getting the Speed Queen was an investment in home safety!

The machine has been extremely reliable. Downside is the price. Upside is that SQ is made in the USA. If supporting US manufacturers and US jobs is important to you, then SQ is one of the few (maybe only?) options.

I don't think the machine is loud...certainly no more noisy than any other washing machine that I've owned. I have to open the laundry chute door and listen to see if it has completed the load...and that is in a basement with bare joists/ not a finished ceiling.

Not sure what is up with the snarky comment about 'rabid' SQ owners?? I'm not invested in my laundry equipment. I simply want a basic workhorse piece of equipment without a bunch of bells & whistles...more stuff to go wrong, IMO. And I darned sure do not want an appliance that requires 'study' on how to operate the thing!

I got a Speed Queen TL in December, so far I like it. It's fast, washes really well and is pretty simple to operate. The Digital ones have more than enough cycles - do you really need a "stuffed animal" cycle? TL also wasn't that much more expensive than most other TL I might consider. The FL are quite expensive though - but they also supposedly are even better built.

If I had to point out negatives it would be that it is smaller than most other modern washers, and the spin drain seems to leave "deposits" back on the clothes that my previous Kenmore did not. Then again, the "deposits" come off in the dryer so aside from cleaning a little more out of the lint trap it doesn't seem to matter at the end.

All in all, if it lasts close to what they claim, it'll be well worth it for me.

I have found my spin drain to be much better than my neutral drain. I have never noticed any depisits on my clothes. 9xvq..what water temp do you use?

I use warm most of the time, though Normal - Eco was changing that to cold for me without my knowledge. Now I'm back to Heavy Duty so I actually set the temps. I came from Cold / Cold - on purpose to use my PureWash, so I don't have a problem with it, but my OxiClean wasn't always dissolving in the Cold /Cold so unless I run the Speed Queen with no detergent booster (which is the only way I can get any suds out of my All Free and Clear) I really want warm. I use Whites / Hot for Whites, and Heavy Duty / Hot for sheets.

When I wash animal towels I tend to end up with dog hair clumps stuck half through the tub drain holes. Never got that with my Kenmore, but it's not super hard to reach around the tub to 4 or 5 places and pull the hairballs out. It's just weird.

dadoes, I thought some of the fancier FLs had onboard heaters, kind of like a dishwasher? I longed for a pair of Mieles for that reason, but didn't want to have to deal with a condenser-dryer.

My comment above is regards to the low-volume water usage as related to clearing standing cold water from the hot supply line. Functionality of an onboard water heater comes into play after filling is finished, and of course is a huge performance plus. Miele, Bosch, Asko, etc. notwithstanding, frontloaders with heaters on the U.S. market don't utilize them on most of the provided cycles ... typically only on Sanitary and Heavy Duty, and maybe Allergen if it's a featured cycle.

I recently had some experience with a 2011 Samsung that has a heater. The best I could get on Normal and Bedding cycles was 82°F-ish for Warm and 89°F to 91°F for Hot. Heavy Duty on Light Soil heated to 115°F. Woolens, interestingly, provided a slightly warmer Warm because it fills to a higher level.

9xvq. The Eco's cycle always uses cold, I have no use for it. Your manual should have informed you of that. Not sure what you mean by the ALL Free in regards to not being able to get suds, how much do you use and what's your water hardness?

Depending on what part of the country your in as far as how cold your water is nothing may disolve including liquids.

As for the dog hair, I recommend you remove the bulk of it prior to washing, no telling what excess hair building up inside the machine will do over time.

Post 873073 in this thread

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?64621_12

is combo52's solution to hot water lag and lack of heater. He puts the point-of-use heater on the cold water line.

Suburbanmd, yes I just posted about that on another post on here. I think this is a great way to have a machine with a reputation for longivity and have the heat.

I purchased the electronic TL models a couple of months ago. I am not a "rabid" owner but will share what I think are the downsides. I came from a TL HE machine.

First, the clothes will come out wet, or should I say wetter, than a HE machine due to the slower spin speeds. This kind of disrupts the flow of doing laundry when it takes considerable more time to dry while the wash cycles are fast.

Second, it seems like the water levels should have more differences between them. Perhaps my observation is not correct but it seems that the medium water level is quite high. Not a big deal to me.

Third, the washer is noisier than my prior machine. Some of that is due to there being more water in the tub but the mechanics of it also a bit louder. Again, not a big deal and I would not consider them loud machines.

Fourth, no soap dispenser (LOL). I am back to the ol' days of making sure I add the detergent before the cloths. I used liquid Tide in the past and was easy to load it up and run. I did the cloths pin mod so it is easy enough dump in the detergent, begin filling and add the cloths quickly.

Even with those minor downsides, I do love these machines. I used to have off-balance loads often enough to be a real pain but not anymore. And these DO clean better than my prior set. My towels were developing a funk to them but after a couple of washings in the SQ, they are back to normal again (same technics/detergent).

I purchased a mechanical TL for my aunt 3 years ago. No problems. I purchased one for myself six months ago. No problems.

It does the job with no fuss, no muss. I am very satisfied with my purchase. Recently, I have had two sets of Bosch washers. The first set were the 220 volt European models and the second set Bosch Nexxt FL. They sounded like jet engines and shook the rafters. I sold one set because they were too small. The second one died and couldn't be revived with less than 10 years of light usage.

My SQ TL is so quiet that I have to go and check to see if it's running. It hasn't gotten out of balance, yet. My clothes come out very dry after the spin cycle. I don't even hear the spin cycle going. I think they are wrung out better by the SQ than my FL Bosch. My on demand hot water heater supplies plenty of hot water when needed. But, I rarely, rarely wash in hot water. Cold water does just fine. Cold water cleans without any problems. I use powdered laundry detergent very sparingly. I never use fabric softener or additives to my wash. Just plain detergent.

I have skin sensitivities and soap has always been a problem for me. I detect no residue after a SQ wash.

I have no experience with service, but I don't think it will be much of a problem. The unit is so simple, there isn't much that goes wrong with it. Any competent repair man should be able to service it.

I can recommend these units without reservation. I'm really happy with my decision. Call me rabid.

No complaints with my Speed Queen Washer. I switched from a top of the line front loader LG set. That washer died after 4 hrs. After doing a ton of research, I purchased the top-loader, turn-knob SQ. It washes quickly and efficiently which I need with doing multiple loads of kids laundry a day. I would recommend to put your good clothes in the delicate wash cycle. My only complaint with the dryer is your clothing will feel hot like fire if you leave it on too long. But upside to that is it dries quickly. I would not trade my set for any other brand & it was a very wise purchase.

I am not rabid and have had mine for 2 1/2 years (the 432). Here are my list of cons: I wish it filled to the top (mine does not), I wish the tub was bigger and that it held more clothes (family of four), the handwash/delicate cycle is kind of joke (it spends most of the cycle just sitting there, not even agitating, the cycles are short (could be a plus, not a con) and lastly, it is expensive!

I do like its simplicity. My teenagers can easily wash a load without help and I like how quickly a load is done.

As far as the short wash cycle, doesn't it agitate for about 18 minutes? you could always shut the machine off part way thru the wash cycle and let things soak in solution, which is a gentle form of washing.

I'm a family of 5 and I find the tub plenty big enough as long as clothing is being sorted. Now for sure its not going to hold as many clothes as a large FL'er, but for me to fill one of those big machines it would be mixed loads, which isn't going to happen lol. Or I'd have to let laundry build up until I had enough of each given load to fill the washer.

There is a way you can tweek your machine to fill higher but that would probably void warrenty, or you could just hold the reset knob until water level is reached.

I also don't like the handwash/delicate cycle, but they did properly name it Handwash, where clothing just sits in solution with little movement. I liked my old machines delicate wash where it agitated the entire time just at a slow agitation.

Yes they arnt cheap, but its still the only TL on the market, that I could find , that actually functions closely to a old skool TL'er. And warrenty comes in that price so your not paying extra on top of the sales price for the warrenty.

I realize that having to babysit the machine in order to do this or that doesn't really make it automatic, on the other hand it can be done unlike other TL'ers that if you try to stop it for a soak..it drains. Or you don't get true tap hot, or it fills 1/4 way for a extra large load, or there's no spin between wash and rinse, it just drains and fills with rinse water1/4 the way up the tub lol.

Today there's no perfect machine, the best we can hope for is a machine that gives us at least the major important functions important to us...at leadt with Speed Queen there's a work around for most of your issues, many other machines don't give you that.

I can't wait to see how these machines perform at the 10 year mark etc. No offense intended, but most people here have bought their machines fairly recently, so there is no real data on longevity. I would only want a FL & only one with an onboard heater. I spent 22 years with luke warm water in a Maytag TL & I would not give up my Bosch Nexxt for anything! I use warm & sanitary every week. No cold water washes here. I hope the Speed Queens really are as good as you all say and perform well for decades.

There is no downside to getting a front load Speed Queen washer. I have been washing with a 2015 Speed Queen front load
washer and matching gas dryer for over a year now and they have performed flawless.
It is the Speed Queen model AFNE9BSP113TW01 with electronic controls. This
washer has a decent load capacity, lots of wash cycles, selectable wash times, ability
to add additional rinse cycles, dynamic load balancing during spin, pre-wash
and soak cycles, a five-year warranty and contains the same internals as their
commercial offerings.

The load size is 3.42 cubic feet which is about 3 bushel
baskets of laundry. The load weight rating is 22 lbs. A typical wash cycle
takes only 45 minutes but through the use of selecting various wash cycles,
spin speeds and soil levels you can increase or decrease the wash time over the
default times. In addition, you can select to add a 7-minute
pre-wash cycle or a 30-minute soak cycle or both. Finally, you can select to
add from one to three additional rinse cycles.

Water temperature selection is straight forward with a
choice of cold, cool, warm and hot with cold only rinse.

The maximum spin speed is 1200 RPM or 440Gs meaning more water
is rung out of the clothes and because some clothes are not meant to be spun at
that maximum speed one can select lower spin speeds or wash with no spin. In addition,
this washer implements dynamic balancing meaning vibration free spin and very
quiet operation.

Finally, you have the ability to delay start your wash to
allow you to begin washing at a more suitable time and there is a warning tone
to tell you that the wash is complete albeit not too loud of one.

I highly recommend this washing machine and it now appears
the price has dropped some $300 from when I bought is.

Nice review, but it would be a no go without a heater. Sure wish Bosch still made my washer, as it has been performing flawlessly for almost 10 years!

Mamapinky0 -- I do agree the pros outweighs the cons but it still kills me that I had to spend $800 for a washer that does no more than my old Maytag "traditional" that died at 10 years old.

My Speed Queen is almost 6 years old--older than I thought. It has performed flawlessly. The only problem was a broken water level selector knob that I broke within the first month or so after buying it new. Because the washer was unfamiliar to me, I was twisting it with too much force. For most of those years, the washer was doing the laundry for a family of four (plus 2 inside/ outside dogs that contribute to the dirty laundry pile) plus DS's really grubby work uniforms.

Stir Fry--You should consider what the Maytag cost in 2006 and multiply that by a factor of at least 1.5 to adjust for inflation. And consider the fact that the washer lasted only 10 years.

I don't know what you want a washer to do. All I care about is getting clothes clean, to be able to use hot water and to stop the washer for long soaks, if needed. And I want it to be reliable and easily serviceable by me. IOW's, uncomplicated. I absolutely do not want a bunch of fancy electronics/ control boards, etc., that are expensive to replace IF you can even buy a replacement. I don't need nor lust after automatic scent injectors, don't need or want it to be 'connected' & other (silly, IMO) frou-frou stuff. The more bells & whistles = more potential stuff to go hay-wire. I don't want to deal with corroded 'spiders' and get into the hassle of replacing basket bearings. Or a smelly washer in my humid basement laundry room. Or one hour plus wash cycles...all the downsides of a front load washer.

Yeh, it uses more water than a front loader. Depending on where you live, that could be a valid reason to invest in something else. I'm not concerned about water usage, living in central WI. To some degree, we compensate by using lo-flow shower heads and minimizing toilet flushes. (Clinging to old skool toilets because we have old cast iron plumbing and a long line to the sewer...both problematic for low water usage toilets or, so I've read.)

All that said, the cost of a SQ is significant. If I needed a new washer tomorrow, I would either buy another SQ or go on the hunt for a vintage, Little Old Lady living alone Whirlpool/ Kenmore washer from an estate or garage sale.

Lots to comment on here from one SQ TL owner to another, but I have to think first. But I will say..I wouldn't worry too much about the water savings between a FL & TL as personally I haven't yet figured out where all the water savings are if all those multiple rinses are being used in a FL'er.

My Speed Queen Front Load washer only uses 11 gallons of water per load which is comprised of the wash and two rinses. My previous Kenmore top load washer used 45 gallons of water per load which is comprised of the wash and a single rinse. The current generation of Speed Queen top load washers use 24 gallons of water per load, a marked improvement over older generations of top load washers but still over 2 time more water than front load washers. In other words a top load washer uses more water because it needs to fill the tub whereas the front load washer only needs enough water to soak the clothes.

In addition I could find no advantage of washing with a top load washer over a front load in all the research I have done on which washer does a better job and all indications are the front load washer consistently yields a better result. My personal experience is that my front load washer does as good of a job as my previous top load washer using 75% less water in the same amount of time (45 minutes).

Yes but there are some people that use multiple rinses and I'm not talking about two..

A typical Whirlpool/Kenmore/Roper yada-yada direct-drive non-HE toploader of years past took 22 to 24 gallons for a full fill. A 1976 super-capacity 18lbs belt-drive took 27 gallons ... so that'd be 54 gallons (plus spin sprays) for a wash + rinse, or 81+ gallons for a wash and two rinses. Lower water levels take less but perhaps not as much less as may be considered (the 1976 machine with four level selections of 12 gals, 17, 22, and 27). Doubtful that a frontloader will pull 54 or 81 gallons for a wash and three (or four) rinses on the average-size load that comprises the majority.

I've read-tell that SQ frontloaders supposedly take no more than 5 gallons per fill (I expect the fill volume varies per size and absorbancy of the load and can exceed 5 gals but I don't have a machine to test). Anyway, at 5 gals per fill that'd be a wash and 7 rinses (8 fills) for 40 gallons consumption.

IMO many of these multiple-rinse fanatics are blowing the rinsing issue far larger than necessary.

I once drained my Calypso into my KA toploader for a water usage comparison on a large load of whites/towels. Wash and standard 4 (or 5?) rinses in the Calypso filled the KA to the rim of the basket ... which is higher than the KA's normal full-fill level but appreciably less than a full-fill wash + rinse.

I wish my SQ had a higher RPM spin to get a little more water out. And I wish that I had manual knobs to better control my soaks. Honestly, the presets on the electrical model don't make sense to me. The pre-wash goes right into wash, but where am I supposed to put the detergent for the washing cycle? The Eco setting is a huge waste for a front loader with an agitator--I never use this preset. All in all, I would buy a SQ again, but I would wait for the manual dial model instead of getting the electric panel mode...I was desperate, and I caved.

I've seen postings about TL not spinning clothes as well as the FL. My experience is SQ TL with the manual knobs spins the load dry just as well as my Bosch Nexxt FL did. The clothes are spun to a very dry state. It takes my dryer less time to dry the loads, too. I like the manual controls. They are very simple and smooth to operate. I find that the simple knobs actually allow me to customize my load more easily that the electronic controls.

I am glad I got the manual controls. I almost decided on the electronic when I learned that the manual doesn't have the end of cycle buzzer on the dryer (why???) but they didn't have both pieces in stock of the electronic. I'm glad it worked out this way, especially after your comments about the manual being easier to customize. Surprisingly, I haven't missed the buzzer that much at all.

I have noticed that the clothes come out almost wet in some instances, but the dryer seems to work faster than my last one anyway. I haven't gotten an electric bill yet, though.

I have the manual dials. .my clothes spin out dry enough..i dry everything at just slightly above Less Dry and just about every load encluding towels dry in around 18 to 33 minutes. ..with bed sheets being in the 18 minute range, its gas.

I got my electronic controlled front loader set September 2015. I have found no cons. I love the machine and am banking on it lasting 20+ years as advertised. Our local appliance store ordered, delivered and hooked up next day, and removed the old GE front loader and Kenmore dryer. They even hooked up the gas dryer. I was surprised and impressed. My only fear was the smaller size of the washer, but it washes my king quilt and duvet with no problem.

FWIW, since learning about STPP, I wash every load on hot and 3 rinses. My whites are white, my darks are fine. I'm in love with this set!

Debbi, they are really very beautiful machines. Not a lot of bells and whistles but you don't need them with a Speed Queen.

We have at least a dozen of the SQ TLs and the oldest is 10years old. It has run all day, 5 days a week for all of this time and sometimes at other times. We wash some very expensive items that require a thorough rinse. The others are of varying age. We would not consider any other machine. One of our facilities had their machine break this week, but it was not a SpeedQueen. It will be replaced with one! We have never had a service call on any of them.

You can adjust the water level on the first ones that were manufactured after the 2009 restrictions set in. I think some of the manuals included instructions but there are videos on YouTube too. The newer ones with Eco wash are supposed to fill all the way if you don't use the Eco setting.

I noticed on the SQ website they have an answered question (by SQ staff) that says the FL washer uses 11.7 gallons regardless of the load size. Has anyone tested or verified this? It seems crazy to fill with a fixed amount and would promote using smaller wash loads to get good water depth (while a bulky load would barely get damp)!

There isn't anymore risk or downside than any other brand. There are negative reviews across all brands. The most important thing, is know what features you are looking for, and what your willing to pay for.

Regarding other reviews, Speed Queen owners are devoted because don’t have to replace their washing machines very often, and their clothes come out cleaner. Why would anyone want a lot of bells and whistles that they never use and the electronic panels are where many of the appliance problems begin, especially when water is involved. They are know for there quiet operation. I bought my Speed Queen at a small appliance and repair business, so I don’t have to worry about parts. It was also cheaper to buy it there, $100 less, then at big box store.

Big box stores do not sell Speed Queen. So what box store did you price compare?

Right. Speed Queen is sold only through independent "mom-and-pop" type appliance dealers ... so there's no direct comparison to what's offered at the big-box outfits.

Christine Balderas ... perhaps you have an older model. All Speed Queen residential toploaders have electronic controls as of the 2018 model revision. The two lower models (TR3 and TR5) have rotary dials but those are selectors for the computer board in the panel. There's one commercial-type model with an old-style mechanical timer but it doesn't have a water level selector, only does a full-fill.

I just bought the front loader and dryer and I really like them. I did extensive research. I could have gone with a pretty looking machine with iPhone compatibility etc...but it would end up in a landfill in about 6-7 years so I opted for the speedqueen and as mentioned earlier about size being smaller than the big plastic ones? well...it cleans just as great if not better than those bigger ones. This has ceramic inside I stead of plastic so it won’t mold as easy either. I went for quality over looks and I’m very happy that I did! Yes it cost a little more but it makes so much more sense in many ways! It’s a serious machine not a trendy puffball. I have the newer version with electronic buttons and the watrenty covers EVERYTHING for 10 years...the other machines only cover a few things. very happy